Related Headlines

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After a lengthy appeal and battle with the school board, Navajo high school senior Dylan McCabe will be able to wear her moccasins during her graduation. She was initially told she couldn’t wear the moccasins because they were a "violation of dress code."

This was not a "fashion statement" for her; the moccasins have special significance. She wore them during a four-day coming-of-age ritual when she was 11 years old.

She told Fox 5, "You run three times a day- at daybreak, noon and dusk- wearing those moccasins. When you run, you run farther and farther each time signifying that you can push yourself harder and harder each time with that personal strength and endurance."

After running miles in those shoes, she did not think walking across a stage would be more difficult.

Although dress codes have long been a subject of contention, the growth of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, along with a resurgence of student activism, have triggered a major rise in protests against attire rules. Conflict over these policies has spawned hundreds of Change.org petitions such as McCabe's.

Many of which have criticized the dress codes as racist, for example- not allowing women of color to wear their hair naturally, or sexist- in that they unfairly target girls by body shaming or blaming them for promoting sexual harassment.